Early Season Bass Trickstick Tactics
OutdoorHub Reporters 05.03.18
Looking back about 15 years now, that was when the first plastic stickbait (Slugo) was introduced to bass fishing and it created quite a following at that time and not to long after that we were introduced to the Senko bait by Gary Yamamoto. To a certain extent, the Senko style bait changed bass fishing as we knew it, who who have thought that just a simple cigar shaped bait could have had such an impact.
Since the first Senko, many other bait companies have made their own versions, some very successful while others have fallen by the wayside. Personally, I am a fan of Big Bites Trickstick, much of this has to do with the size options that they have to offer, but the biggest point is the durability of the bait. I am not going through multiple bags of baits for a normal day of fishing like I would with some others.
Let’s take a closer look at the Trickstick to see what it has to offer and along the way lets cover some of the most popular riggings and how to fish this bait for springtime bass.
Texas Rigged Weighted and Un-Weighted
This is how it all started. Take your Trickstick and rig it onto your worm hook then burry the hook point back into the Trickstick to make it weedless. I cannot tell you how many bass that I have caught this way and it is still a staple to this day when conditions are right for catching bass in the early part of the season.
Anywhere I regularly fish a Texas Rigged worm I will now also fish a weighted Texas Rigged Trickstick and in some cases, with better bass catching success. Do not overpower the Trickstick but give it just the right weight to be able to fish the bait faster than you can with an un-weighted model. Another tip is to play with the size of the Trickstick that you are using. I many times will up size to a 6” or 7” Trickstick with improved success.
For an un-weighted Trickstick, I will fish this option on a spinning setup 7ft medium action spinning rod that is teamed with a matching spinning reel and is spooled with 10lb Sunline Siglon x8 braided line. If I feel the bass are line shy I will add a fluorocarbon leader. If the bite is really tough, I may switch to a mono line option to slow down the fall of the bait down even more to get bites from the finickiest bass in the bunch.This tactic works very well when the bass are on beds so that you can keep the bait above their heads longer, ultimately triggering more strikes in your day on the water.
If I am fishing the weighted version I will switch off between a 7ft baitcaster MH action setup, teamed with a baitcaster reel that is spooled with either 30lb Sunline Siglon x8 or Sunline Sniper fluorocarbon line in 16-20lb test. The fluorocarbon line option is sized according to the cover that I am fishing.
When looking to change it up a little fish your Trickstick like you would a plastic worm just add weight.
Wacky Rig
This, like the Texas Rigged options, can be a weighted or un-weighted rig but I have a few new Wacky options that you may not know about yet or have not tried. You can rig your Wacky Trickstick a few ways, first you can just take a drop shot hook and hook it in the middle of the Trickstick, call it good, and start fishing. If you are looking to get a few more bass out of each Trickstick you have a few different options. One is to slip an O-Ring onto your Trickstick in the middle and run the hook under the O-Ring. This rigging will give your bait more action and you will be able to catch more bass per bait, but there are a few more options that you may want to try.
Big Bite Baits also makes a Trickstick where the O-Ring is molded right into the middle of the bait, this is called a Wacky Stick. Just put your hook into the bait inside of the molded in O-Ring. The other option is something I was shown by Elite Pro Shin Fukae. For this option, you take some heat shrink tubing cut about a 3/8” section and slip it over your Trickstick. You then hit it with a lighter to shrink it around the Trickstick, which gives you a great area to hook into and will make it difficult to pull the hook out. This is the rigging that I prefer to use when I am fishing a Wacky Rig.
If you want to fish your Wacky Trickstick in deeper water, trade your drop shot hook for a weighted Wacky Jig Head. In my opinion, one of the best ones on the market is the Gamakatsu model as it is also equipped with a Titanium weed guard to give you more fishing options.
For the majority of my Wacky rig fishing, I will fish it on a 7ft medium action spinning setup that is teamed with a spinning reel and spooled with either Sunline Siglon x8 10lb braid or 8lb Sunline Super Monofilament. Once again I am leaning towards the mono option to keep the bait in the strike zone longer in hopes of triggering more bites on super slow days.
Line choice can make a big difference in what and how your Trickstick will fish and look in the water. Make sure you pick the right line for the conditions you are fishing in.
Jig Head Rigged Tricks – Ned Rig
When the bass are sitting on the tops or just off of the edge of the weeds, it’s time to grab a 3/32oz or 1/8oz Ball Head or Mushroom Head jig rigged with a 3”, 4” or 5” Trickstick and go to work. This slow falling option is a great way to catch bass that are roaming the tops and edges of the weeds, looking for bluegills and baitfish. One key to this tactic, do not over power the Trickstick with too big of a jig head.
Now take this same presentation to the deeper water areas and fish this as a Ned Rig. You may have to play with the jig size to be able to feel the bait in the conditions that you are fishing, but the majority of time you will want to fish a 3/32oz, 1/8oz or 3/16oz head. 3/16oz is the biggest that I have ever fished as a Ned Rig. There is something about a small bait moving along the bottom, to many a bass this looks like either a small crawfish or a small baitfish moving. It also represents an easy meal which, I feel is the number one key in getting the bass to bite this bait when they get a chance.
When it comes to fishing this presentation, I will use a 7ft medium action spinning setup that is teamed with a matching spinning setup for the weed pattern. I will either fish 10lb Sunline Siglon x8 or I will use 8lb Sunline Super Natural monofilament. Once again, I use the mono line choice to give the bait a slower fall rate.
How you rig your Trickstick will go a long way in how long the bait lasts and how it looks.
I will use the same spinning setup when fishing the Ned Rig but with one change, if I feel the bass are line shy I will add a 4ft to 6ft fluorocarbon leader of either 8lb or 10lb to my braid option or I may go to a full fluorocarbon line option in either 6lb or 8lb test.
So, if you are looking to put a few more bass over the side of your boat this season give some of these Tricksticks riggings a good try. I can bet they will make your bass fishing success rise under all conditions.
